Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is less than a week away from the opening of his first spring practices on the Plains (Julie Bennett / jbennett@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- For most Auburn fans, the Tigers' late start date for spring ball -- every other team in the SEC has already started spring practice -- has meant a long offseason, but the wait is almost over.

Auburn opens spring practice next Wednesday, kicking off a span of 15 practices in 25 days that ends with A-Day on April 20.

For scheduling purposes, today's live chat is pushed back to 2 p.m., but we're hoping to make a 1 p.m. Thursday time a permanent home for the live chat moving forward as Auburn opens up spring practices and the Tigers start preparing for the 2013 season in earnest.

As always, the chat will take place in the comments section. Leave a comment there, and Joel will answer beginning at 2 p.m. Feel free to leave a comment early if you can't make it to the computer this afternoon, and Joel will get to it once the chat is up and running.